Hong Kong's natural heritage

Hong Kong

A WATER buffalo grazes in a lush open field, an egret standing sentinel on its back. A herd of wild cattle bathes in the sunshine along the side of a winding road.

Two idyllic rural scenes, seen nearly every day.

In Hong Kong.

This is a place known for its urban superlatives. There are more skyscrapers here than anywhere on the planet. Most residents live in tiny apartments, many stacked atop sprawling shopping malls, which in turn are piled on top of subway stations. With an area about the size of Luxembourg, Hong Kong is continuously reclaiming land from the sea, making more space for its 7.2 million people.

But there is another side to this former British colony. A wild side. Most of Hong Kong is not an urban jungle, but rather a real one, teeming with monkeys, Burmese pythons, barking deer, wild boars and 14 types of venomous snakes (eight of which, including the king cobra, are lethal to humans). About three-quarters of the land here is …